“Of course.” Edith fiddles with the bone, turning it over. She frowns, bringing it closer to her face. “The lines are so faint, how are we supposed to read these?”
Laughing, I lean closer. “Here.”
I point to the first one:?. “See that? It’s an r-rune. It even looks like an uppercase R in English.”
“Okay, what about this?” Edith asks, placing her finger on the next one.
“Hmm, so this is the Elder Futhark.” My shoulder bumps Edith’s as I lean closer, looking over the faint rune. “That one is the a-rune. Ansuz.”
Edith doesn’t move away. Our shoulders touch as we slowly translate rune by rune. It takes me longer than normal, since it’s hard to concentrate with Edith being so close. When we finally finish, we have the following written in runes:
??????
I frown. “I’m not sure what this means. Some kind of deer, I think?”
“That’s correct,” Mother says, standing beside our table with a pleased smile. “Roe deer, to be specific. A type of small deer in Scandinavia that’s adapted to the cold. You’re holding the deer’s talus bone, also known as the ankle.”
Edith gives a nervous laugh. “At least it isn’t human.”
CHAPTER FORTY-ONEEDITH
For the first time, I show up to Transformation because Iwantto. There’s only a few more days until the Unity Dance. Bea will be there, and so will Jim and Patricia. I want to be able to have fun and actuallyenjoythe dance without worrying I’m going to accidentally hurt someone. To do that, I have to be confident I can control my transformation.
When I arrive to class, Isaac slings one arm around me. “So, Edith, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you…”
“Don’t even think about it,” Tala warns him.
“What? I need a date to the dance now,” Isaac says. “You know, since you’re going solo.”
I shrug him off and turn to Tala. “Really?”
“Yup,” she says, popping thep. “I finally told my parents that Isaac and I broke up.”
Looks like I’m not the only one primal screaming helped.
“How’d they take it?”
“Not great, honestly.” Tala sighs. “But I’m learning to be okay withdisappointing other people. The most important thing is that I don’t disappoint myself. I’m going to start doing whatIwant to do.”
Isaac laughs. “About time, T.”
“All right everyone,” Gunnar calls, clapping his hands together. “Break into groups and work on your transformations.”
I look up at Tala and Isaac. “Any advice?”
“Remember what you told us?” Tala asks, searching my face. “Use your rage to transform.”
“I’ll try.”
I do my best to concentrate. Since I screamed before the crater, I haven’t been able to access that anger again. The animal within seems to have quieted. I haven’t felt the scrape of claws inside me or even the low rumble of growls.
I shake my head slowly. “I don’t think I can.”
“No problem,” Tala says. “Start with something small. How about letting your claws out?”
Isaac holds up his hands. “Just don’t use them on me this time.”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t worry, I won’t.”
